Dementia Caregiver Burden associated with COVID‐19 quarantine: A South American Cohort Study

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundIn December 2019, a new virus, Coronavirus disease (COVID‐19/SARS‐CoV‐2), burst into the world. Social distancing reduces its transmission and delays the spread peak. However, because of the late arrival of vaccines to our region, Argentina had a rigorous mandatory preventive social isolation (MPSI) policy that extended beyond global record. As a result, MPSI had a disruptive impact on the actions associated with the well‐being of dementia patients, and caregivers. In addition, MPSI added to the well‐known caregiver burden already present in many dementia patients’ caregivers. This study aims to investigate the impact of MPSI on dementia patients’ caregivers’ mental health and to identify predictors of caregivers’ burden.MethodA sample of 112 caregivers (75.89% female; age 58.65 ± 14.30) of patients with dementia answered a survey with the following questionnaires: Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), Weekly hourly load dedicated to dementia care, time spent on leisure activities (activity diary provided by Argentine National Institute of Statistics and Census), the Caregiver Activities Survey (CAS) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS‐21). These questionnaires evaluate caregiving characteristics and their impact on the caregiver. Additionally, history of COVID‐19 was recorded for patients, caregivers and people living with either of them.ResultMost caregivers were women (75.89%). This difference hindered direct comparison between men and women. A regularized L2 regression was performed and the number of caregiving hours (β = 0.090), depression (β = 0.085), anxiety (β = 0.099), stress (β = 0.164), and fear of COVID‐19 (β = 0.141), were identified as predictors of caregiver burden. Finally, a mediation analysis was also performed, and hours of care (CAS; r = 0.254), being the primary caregiver, and fear of COVID‐19 (r = 0.335) were identified as mediators of the effect between anxiety, depression, stress (DASS) and burden (ZBI).ConclusionCaregivers of dementia patients show sequelaes of anxiety, stress, depression, and caregivers’ burden in the context of COVID‐19 spread and during MPSI. Being a primary caregiver, dedicating more hours to caregiving, and fear of COVID‐19 are factors that contribute significantly to caregiver burden and mediate between this burden and mood variables. Relief of caregivers' burden could be aided by the design of public health policies that specifically address the mediators identified in this study.